The number one key to raising funds successfully in a church is the pastor.  Tell me how well loved and respected the pastor is and I can predict how successful the capital campaign or offering will be.  If you as a pastor want to do something to raise the level of financial commitment in your church realize that it all starts with you.

I have been reminded about how important this is as I have been at First Church of the Nazarene in Jackson, MI.  We are in the process of helping them formulate their strategies for closing out the current campaign and getting ready for the next campaign.  The church just recently opened their new worship facility.  They did this while living in one of the worst states in terms of the recession, Michigan.  While others around the country put needed projects on hold this church forged ahead.  A lot of the credit goes to their senior pastor Phil Stout.  He has to be one of the most loved pastors in America.

One thing we do for our clients is help them with strategic planning.  Part of the process is meeting with ministry leaders and giving leaders.  We ask probing questions and listen to their views and feelings about their church and its future.  It is a time consuming task that few companies are willing to invest the time in.  It does however give the leadership great insight into what the congregation is thinking.  As one pastor told me, “Your report gave me the greatest intelligence going into a campaign that I ever had.”

We learn a lot in this process about the church and what it faces.  One thing we always learn is how the pastor is viewed.  In churches where the pastor is loved, admired and respected it is much easier to raise funds.  In churches where the pastor has not invested in the lives of his members we know that they face a greater challenge.  Frankly some of the worst campaigns I have ever been involved with were with great visionary pastors who none the less did not have the love of the people.  People will  not get on board with your vision if they do not believe you love them.

There are many things that go into a successful campaign.  The one thing that is essential is the pastor having a good standing with his leaders and the congregation.  So while you work on that vision statement you might stop and invest some time into the lives of your members.  There is nothing like it in terms of raising funds.  Whether you like it or not, you, pastor are the key to successfully raising funds.

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

In terms of church attendance there is perhaps no greater challenge than filling the pews in July.  July is Americans vacation month of choice it seems.  We have our national holiday on the 4th which falls this year on a Sunday.  Scratch one Sunday of attendance just with that.  Then it seems that July is the month that Americans go to the beach, the lake or to see Mickey.  They might just laze about at home.  Whatever they do or where ever they go your attendance is going to take a hit.  With lower attendance comes lower offerings.  Unless you take action this decline in giving, at a time when many churches programs are going full bore, will seriously stress your budget.  Wise churches had a plan of action and are working their plan.

If you failed to plan for the July recess here are some things you can do to help minimize the decline in giving.

Use the mail to deliver your message. Direct mail is still the preferred means of raising funds for nearly every non-profit.  Why?  It works!  How often has a well written letter produced giving on your part?  The chances are you ignore a lot of that mail but sent from a ministry you love, with the right message you will respond.  The same is true for your church members.  If I were you I would have a letter out this week encouraging my members that while they are on vacation they need to be faithful in their giving.  Write the letter not as a guilt trip but as an opportunity for them to invest in what you are doing this summer.  People respond when they see the need.  Send a letter that doesn’t beg but does state your need for dollars to fuel ministry.

The letter should also include a postage paid envelope so that your members can easily mail back their contribution.  When we make it easy for members to respond they are more likely to do so.  Use the mail to your advantage.

Use electronic means to get your message out. While snail mail still rules email is coming on fast.  Some of your congregation will respond to a timely email sent by you asking for their support.  Again the need is to make giving easy.  It will take some work on your part to accomplish this.  You will need to have online giving set up, something that is not all that hard to do.  You need a web site that has that link that can be easily accessed by your members.  I was once at a church that had a staff member during the service take one minute to show members how to give online.  The email that you send out asking for summer giving help should have a link in it giving members an easy way to access the site.

Use Social Media. Do you have summer mission trips going on?  Do you have a VBS?  Why not set up a Facebook page for each ministry with links to your online giving.  Tell your story and ask for financial support.  Social Media use is on the rise.  A significant number of your congregation uses this tool.  You should be using it to gain their attention and support.

There are a lot of other ways in which you can help turn around that July decline.  You don’t have to let poor attendance get you down or put you in a financially difficult place.  Make plans now to have some plan of action for the month of July.  It might just save your budget year.

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

It will be interesting to see how historians write about this past recession a hundred years from now.  It will probably take that long for an objective view of what took place and why.  After all we are still arguing over The Great Depression of the 1930′s.  Even a hundred years from now, should Jesus tarry, I suppose there will be controversy depending upon your economic and world views.  I belong to the small minority of people that think that:

A.  It was not as bad as people thought.

B.  The government made it worse with TARP and the bail outs.

C.  Politicians used the crisis to advance their agenda.

D.  The solution was much more simple than we made it out to be.

E.  Fear reigned and leadership waned.

F.  The church missed an opportunity by buying into the fear mongers.

To me these last eighteen to twenty four months have been ones of cowardice and caution with few examples of courage.  At a time when our nation needs leadership we have little from either party.  Americans are going to the polls and voting for none of the above candidates.  The mood of the country is one of frustration and anger.  The governments handling, or lack of handling, with the oil spill is perhaps the last straw for any trust in Washington.  We seem to be saying now, “Just get out of our way and let us govern ourselves as we know best.”  We are in for some tumultuous days ahead.

So, now is the time for the church to rise up and fill the void.  We need leadership that is not coming from Washington or our state houses.  We need men and women of conviction and courage to stand up and show the way.  This vacuum of leadership is ripe for the true answer we possess.  As a church we should never be cowards.  While some caution is good too often it freezes us into inaction and is an excuse for cowardice.  The time has come for courage.  Where are our leaders?

Rise up o’ men and women of God!

Mark Brooks

The Charis Group

The doomsdayers got a shock when Giving USA reported that giving did decrease in 2009 but not as much as was expected.  I wonder if George Barna read the report?  Giving USA tracks all kinds of charitable giving.  Giving to religion declined only -0.3%.  This would be a far cry from the panic reporting of the religious press and others.  Barna had predicted a decline of around 7%.  Ed Stetzer of Lifeway Research was closer to the mark with his survey.  Both of those surveys were used by the press to predict a very negative decline in giving.  Overall Giving USA reported that giving to charity in the USA did indeed decline by 3.2%.  This was shocking news as most were anticipating double digit declines.  Giving USA’s report once again shows that as in past recessions giving to charity and especially giving to religious causes fares very well.

So surprising was the Giving USA report that many immediately began to question its validity.  The Chronicle of Philanthropy in their June 17th edition gave extensive coverage to the report.  They quoted many fund raisers from non-profits who cast questions upon the data.  Why was that?  It was not true to their experience and the experiences of those around them.  In other words what they were saying is, “Don’t confuse me with the data, my non-profit is not profiting!”  Giving USA stands by their data.  They quote Patrick Rooney the director as saying the figures are accurate or very close because they have been at this for fifty years.  They verify their report by checking information from the IRS that comes out much later.  With the exception of one year, the estimates have turned out to be within two percentage points of the actual change as reported by the IRS.

Last years Giving USA revealed that the recession was impacting giving only slightly.  Once again many questioned the report.  The assumption was that giving would be drastically down.  The data proved otherwise.  In fact Giving USA revised their 2008 after the IRS revealed their statistics.  It turns out giving, while down, was a much more modest 2.4% decline.  Giving to religion actually showed a 1% gain.  So much for assumptions and commonly held view points.

I would like to say, I told you show but no one likes anyone that says that.  None the less when the Barna report came out it did not ring true to what we were seeing.  On top of this historically charitable giving has been fairly recession proof.  Steep declines like the press grabs a hold of are not the norm.  They do fit into our negative the sky is falling mindset that has captivated the American public including many Christian leaders.  While this past recession has indeed caused stress for non-profits including churches it has not been as bad as reported.  It is time somebody stopped the fear mongering that has swept across the nation.   We still have challenges ahead of us but it truly is on the mend.  We will still have some bumps in the road but we are recovering.  There is cause to be positive even while others are not.

Here are some thoughts of mine after reading the recent giving report from Giving USA.

Surveys and polls are unreliable sources of gauging giving.

We should wait until factual data is released to evaluate giving not base it upon the opinions of a few.

Just because your buddies church is struggling during the recession does not mean yours will too.

At the end of the day our faith should determine our actions not surveys and polls.

Finally, it is your church giving that matters most, not what the national data reveals.

So, how is your church doing?  What is your plan to stay on top of giving?  Remember, if you have no plan you are planning on failure.  Get a stewardship plan in place now!

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

Timing is everything!  You can have the right strategy, the best program, the most compelling message and have poor timing and fail.  This is especially true when it comes to capital stewardship campaigns.  I have seen the most compelling visions not raise the money needed simply because the timing of the campaign was off.  In capital campaigns timing is everything!

If timing is so important how do you determine what the best time is?  Here are some thoughts for your consideration.

Timing and time are not the same thing. What I mean by this is that one month in a calendar is no better than the other in terms of success.  The exception to this might be in the dead of summer or during holiday times.  For all the other times of the calendar I have seen campaigns succeed in fall and succeed equally as well in spring.  Broadly speaking there are two times for campaigns, fall and spring.  In the fall you want to have the commitment time before the holidays begin.  In the spring you need to consider concluding before Easter or before school lets out.  Apart from those considerations the calender is not all that crucial.  When we speak of timing we are not talking about calender issues.  The right time is when all conditions for success are lined up.  Timing involves many more factors than what time of the year it is.  Get the timing right and the time will not matter.

Getting it right is more important than getting it done on time. We get asked a lot, “Is now a good time for a campaign?”  Or we are specifically asked now, “Do we still have time to get in a fall campaign?”  Too often the focus is upon some arbitrary time line.  Unless a bank has set some deadline for raising funds, you are better off taking time to lay a proper foundation than rushing to fulfill some time line.  The other day a church asked me, “What if you found things that needed addressing before we launched a campaign?”  My answer was that our motto is getting it right is more important than getting it done on time.  We would not hesitate to give our advice to delay a campaign so that whatever issues we found could be resolved.  In fact just this week my advice to a client was to delay the fall campaign until spring so that he could address key issues that we had uncovered.

Too often church leaders simply want to get the campaign process over with.  They rush through the most important parts of campaign planning to get the pledge completed at a set time.  The results often are compromised by this rush to get it done.  Most delays are only for a few months.  The time you spend resolving whatever issues caused the delay could mean thousands of dollars in commitments.  Everything suffers when we get in a hurry.  This is especially true for capital campaigns.

So as you think about a potential campaign give some time to timing.  The time you take successfully lining up all your ducks, while taking time, could in the end mean your timing is right on time.

If you need help with timing issues we can help.  Give us a call today!

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

Here is a news flash for some of you, the year is 2010 not 1980.  While I don’t believe in time travel I do know that you can go into many churches in America and it seems as if you have traveled back in time.  How many churches have you been in that it has the look and feel of the 1980′s?  The decor might be updated, the building might even be new but the approach to ministry is stuck in the ’80′s.

In my industry capital campaigns are typically run as they always have been run, like it is 1980 all over again.  Some of the fault here lies in the fact that most of the owners of campaign firms are above fifty years old with some in their seventies.  Many began their ministry in the ’80′s and their approach is often stuck in that time warp.  While they at one time served on church staffs for most of them it was years ago.  The danger has become that they are disconnected with what is happening now in churches.

Another factor is that the landscape of church life has changed.  Members are less likely to buy into a programmatic approach to campaigns.  Nearly every stewardship firm sells a program.  The program might be customized to your church but in the end it is typically simply a program.  With the advent of the Internet churches can find programs themselves.  If all you want is a program you can purchase one for a few hundred dollars.  We give away our campaign manual!  We do this because we believe that a manual is not what a church needs.

The old adage was that the more people you involved in a campaign the greater their buy in would be.  Thus campaigns were put together with a host of different teams doing all kinds of busy work.  Team members would meet for planning, get encouragement from the campaign consultant and perhaps a pep talk from the pastor.  It was all designed to help move people to a commitment.  It was the way we did things in 1980 and it worked so no one questioned it.  Now in 2010 it works less and less.  It is time to start asking questions and looking for alternative approaches.

One reason the old approach doesn’t work any longer is that now we are dealing with two commodities, time and money.  People are so stretched for time and as a church any meeting you ask people to attend had better be for a good purpose.  With so little time left in my week I don’t have time for busy work at the church.  Frankly most of the work we created for the campaign was just that, busy work.  Again, what once might have worked no longer does.  What gets people today to make a commitment is not their involvement but the compellingness of the vision and how well you communicate it.

So why do so many firms simply crank out 1980 style programs?  For one thing they are easy to deliver.  They can do that without much thought or cost.  It’s a bottom line kind of thing.  How much can we charge you for how little we can deliver.

For others it simply is that doing programs is what they equate with ministry.  It is how they did church back in the 1980′s.  They read these lines like I am from Mars.  They don’t get it and sadly they never will.  Times have changed and many have not changed their consulting to meet those times.  There are still churches where inside it is 1980 and those firms that reflect 1980 approaches appeal to 1980 type churches.  As time goes on there will be fewer and fewer of those types.

Which type of church are you?  If you are tired of old 1980 thinking and programs perhaps now is a time for change.  We think outside the box.  We think with 2010 thinking.  We are different not for the sake of being different.  We are different because it is 2010 not 1980.  What year are you in?

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

Yesterday as I was making a presentation to a church considering using our services I was asked what causes a campaign to fail?  That is a great question because not all campaigns succeed.  Everyone hears about the great successes but few hear about the failures.  Companies like mine tout our success stories and hope you don’t ask about the failures.  Still a wise church will ask this question and be willing to face and deal with whatever the answers are.

In my twelve years of experience I find that campaign failure typically is a result of the following…

Unrealistic Expectations. Sometimes the failure is not a failure but unrealistic expectations.  Many churches are convinced that they can raise more money than is possible.  Frankly in my experience about 90% of the churches fall into this category at the out set of campaign planning.  Typically the culprit is comparing their church to some other church.  The thinking goes, “If my buddies church, that is smaller than mine, can raise three times their budget then surely we can do that.”  The comparison trap thus sets a church up for a potential let down.  At other times I have had pastors tell me everyone is so excited about the project that he just knows they can raise an incredible amount of money.  However if you do not have the capacity for those dollars no amount of excitement can create money falling from heaven.  Many churches fail because they have set their expectations too high.  Make sure you get a realistic feel for what your campaign potential is.

Staff Problems. It starts with the pastor and goes downward.  If the pastor does not have a good standing in the congregation you can forget about having a successful campaign.  Often members who have tithing down will set out a campaign as a means of voicing their disapproval of the direction of the church.  As my old boss John Maxwell use to say, “You have to win the heart before you ask for the hand.”  Not only can a pastors poor standing in the congregation hurt a campaign but so can staff problems.  I once worked with a church that was building a preschool space only to have the youth pastor rally his supporters against the plan.  He wanted the youth building built first.  In the end neither one got what they wanted.

Unresolved Issues in the Past. It sometimes amazes me how the church that is built upon the forgiveness of Christ finds it so hard to forgive one another.  If there are issues in your past, conflicts that were not resolved satisfactorily they can and will impact your campaign.  I call these issues land mines.  Often they lie undetected.  There is nothing that will perk out problems in a church like a capital stewardship campaign.  You have to defuse these land mines first before you can effectively raise dollars.

Problems With the Process. Sometimes the campaign process is not a fit for the congregation.  If you come across to heavy handed people will push back.  If you ask your members to participate in events that are not in keeping with your culture or unique church DNA don’t be surprised if they are luke warm to giving.  A good process in the wrong place will create problems.  The design of your campaign cannot be a set piece program but truly reflective of the congregation you are in.  A bad process will leave a bad taste in the mouths of your donors.

To avoid these and other problems we spend most of our time on the front end of a campaign.  We attempt to find out as much about the issues a church is facing before we ever launch a campaign.  It takes time and effort to do this.  However at the end of the process a church has a much better chance of success as a result of this planning.  We tell our clients that you never have to recover from a good start.  When looking for a campaign partner make sure the firm you are interviewing has a process that helps you avoid potential blow ups in a campaign.  The steps you take now can and will help raise the funds you need for the future.  You can avoid blowing up your campaign.  Call us today and we can share with you how to assure a more successful campaign.

A year ago I was asked a question by a staff member during my presentation about our services.  I asked him if he wanted the sales answer to his question or the truth.  “The truth,” he replied indignantly.  I told him the truth and another company won the contract.  I have always maintained that I would rather tell the truth, lose the contract but keep your respect.

The one thing I hate about my job is the sales side of things.  Churches feel that they must do due diligence when it comes to picking a stewardship partner and interview more than one firm.  I understand that and respect that.  What I don’t respect is the unethical manner in which some firms present themselves.  In the end it makes my job harder.  With many churches they are so burned by past promises never delivered that it is hard to even get them to return our calls.

Recently I made a presentation to a church.  After not hearing a word from them for about a month I sent an email asking for an update.  The response back said that they were still considering my firm and another giant in our industry.  The pastor responded by saying of the other firm, “they seemed to have more statistical information on campaigns that would be similar to ours. They were able to list statistics from comparable churches in our area and of our size. They would spend more time here, and a minor thing is that they throw in published materials with our logo. Their payment plan was a little more flexible.”

Knowing the company in question and seeing the answer the pastor gave me tells me the church is being fooled without their knowing it.  I don’t mind losing when a church says the consultant of the other company is a better fit for them.  I will mind losing if the reasons is the church did not carefully think through the issues.  So, let me share with you how to break down the supposed strengths of this company’s sales pitch.

Comparing your church to another church is irrelevant. First of all I know this company.  They don’t collect extensive giving data on churches.  They only look at the campaign results compared to the budget giving for the last year.  They then extrapolate from that an average percentage to tell the church what they can expect.  The sales tactic here is to get you to think that they can produce the same results for your church.  Here is my response to the pastor about this point…

One reason I do not show comparisons with other churches is my belief that doing so is a mistake.  I have looked at statistical data on churches of all sizes and in every section of the country for almost thirteen years.  Frankly I view that as an area of expertise we have over nearly every other firm in the industry.  No one church is like another, even those in the same denomination!  Churches across the street from each other are vastly different.  What one church raised in their campaign is totally irrelevant to what you are capable of.  While my industry has touted their pledge to budget ratio, doing so is simply a sales technique to impress a potential client.  In my experience stewardship companies never truly want to know what their pledge to budget ratio is.  The truth might scare you.  Comparing your church to other churches will not give you any better knowledge of what your capability is.  I wrote an entire chapter in my book, “Stewardship Myths,” on this topic.

Counting on site visits is a poor way to evaluate whether you are getting your monies worth. I know what often happens.  A church takes how many visits you say you will be there for and then divides that into the price.  It is a poor way of evaluating value.  Again, I know this company and frankly their reputation is one of NOT being there very much.  In an article I wrote a few years back entitled, “Asking the Right Questions of Potential Partners,” I wrote the following about this issue…

“The question we are generally asked is, “How many on site visits will you make?”  A better question might be, Will you have enough time to make our campaign a success? Some churches are trying to compute the cost of the contract by the number of visits the consultant makes to arrive at the value.  As you will see that kind of thinking focuses on a variable cost and will benefit the potential partner more than you.  Quality visits are what counts.  It is virtually impossible to predict how many times a consultant will need to be onsite.  As one of my friends said once, “If we agree to come in one more time than our competition do we get the contract?”  You want to evaluate your partnership on more than just how many times they fly in.  One church once decided upon a partner because they promised 40 on site visits.  Yet as the church considered a partner for the next campaign they did not even invite that company back.  The number of visits is meaningless without quality consulting.  The real issue with regard to this question is, “Will we get the attention we feel we deserve for the fee we are paying?”

By the way, we believe we are on site more than any other firm in the industry.  Since we limit the number of campaigns each of our consultants can take they have more time for you.

You are hiring someone to help you raise funds not do things you know how to do. Several stewardship firms promise to do your printing for you.  It sounds like one more thing off your plate.  Do you think they do that for free?  At The Charis Group we do one thing, help you raise the most dollars possible to fuel your God given dream.  I responded to the pastor at this point by saying…

“As for printing materials we made a conscience decision not to provide materials.  Why pay me to be the middle man between you and the printer.  I have an alliance with the best designer of stewardship materials in the country.  My focus is on stewardship not on printing.  I could have raised my fee’s and provided the materials.  I view it better to let the church drive that option thus getting what they want for a price they work to set.”

We recommend Catalyst Faithworks to all our churches.  They have been working with churches on campaign materials for years.  They are the best at what they do. You can go to their site here:

http://www.catalystfaithworks.com/index.php

If you don’t like a firms payment plan ask for options. We have a standard payment plan that allows churches to pay out the fee over time.  If however our plan does not fit your budget we can and will adjust as long as it is fair to both parties.  At the end of the day I want your business and will not let a payment plan get in the way. My response to the pastor about this was to say, “As for the payment plan I will set that for whatever you feel is more advantageous to you.  Our payment plan is not set in stone.”

The pastor did say one thing that was the other companies disadvantage, price.  He said, “they are significantly more expensive.”  The truth is if this church partners with that company they will find out just how expensive they truly are when all these promises come up empty.  Frankly I have made a good living cleaning up the mess this company leaves behind.  They might be one of the biggest but they are far from the best.  Despite what their sales material says, eight out of ten churches they served in the past would never hire them again.  I would be surprised if half their past clients went with them again.   As the old saying goes, “Fool me once shame on you, fool my twice shame on me.”  Don’t get fooled!

Telling the truth to help restore the reputation of the stewardship industry I am…

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

Yesterday, Sunday June 6th, I had the wonderful privilege to be at First Church of the Nazarene of Jackson, MI.  Jackson is one hour from the Detroit airport.  It is in the state that has been hit the hardest by this recession.  In the midst of this recession First Jaz began a capital stewardship campaign to build a new sanctuary.  While many across the country have delayed their project because of the economy First Jaz saw an opportunity and by faith began raising funds for their new facility.

Nearly three years later we celebrated the dedication of their new facility yesterday.  What a thrill to be in attendance as 1,500 people in two services dedicated not only the building but themselves to its use.  Pastor Phil Stout did an excellent job of preaching the dedication message.  To listen to the elements of his message you can go here…

http://www.jaxnaz.com/media.php?pageID=6

Being at First Jaz yesterday proved once again the following…

People give to support a worthy vision.

Good vision trumps bad economy.

Good leaders provide good vision.

Good leaders know how to lead their people to celebrate.

God always provides when we trust Him in faith.

I was thrilled to be a part of helping them raise the funds to get into this new building.  I am looking forward to helping them for the next three years.  If First Jaz can do it in one of the worst economic areas of the country what is your excuse?  What are you waiting for?

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group

Not every ministry is a good match for us.  As my mentor Dave Sutherland use to say, “We work best with those that work with us.”  While that might seem confusing or even contradictory time after time I have seen ministries hire a firm, spend thousands of dollars and then never fully partner with that firm.  You cannot work with someone that does not work with you.

I have learned that we are not a fit for every ministry.  I would frankly rather tell you that upfront than become engaged in working with  you only to find out we are not a match.  There are tons of stewardship firms out there and you can find one that fits what you are looking for.

To save you and us some time here are some thoughts for you to consider.  We are not the partner you are looking for if…

You want someone to do the work for you. I am tired of hearing pastors tell me how little time they have and how they want someone to run the campaign for them.  I was a pastor for twenty years.  I know the demands upon a pastors time.  I also know that you make time for what you value and deem important.  If you want to raise significant dollars it cannot be done without you.  It cannot be done without hard work.  The work  you put into that four to three month intensive campaign will be what you live off of for three years.

You say your vision is important, then give it the time it needs to raise the funds to fuel that dream.  Looking for a firm to do all the work for you is copping out on your responsibility.  We will work hard but it is to make you more effective, not relieve you of your God given role.

We are not the partner you are looking for if…

You want a program. I hate programed approaches to stewardship so much that I give away for free a campaign manual.  What other firms charge you for we give away.  Programs do not raise money, vision correctly communicated does.  I can train a monkey to deliver a program.  You put programs together at your church all the time.  Why pay me to do what you can do yourself?  Why pay thousands of dollars when you can buy Rick Warren’s manual or get ours for free?

The day of the programized capital campaign is over.  Does your church still operate like it is 1980?  If so, look for a firm that simply delivers a program.  If you are facing 2010 issues then you need more than a program.

We are not the partner you are looking for if…

You think you need multiple teams of laypeople doing all kinds of work. For years we believed and taught that the more involved a person is the greater the amount they gave.  While there is some truth in this it does not exactly apply to doing some type of work in a capital campaign.  The scant research to prove this point deals with involvement in existing ministry and attendance not being on the Invitation Team.  The truth is that the key to whether or not a donor gives to your campaign is how compelling your vision is and how well you communicate the need.

Multiple team approaches to capital campaigns again harkens back to the 1980′s.  In 2010 there are two commodities, time and money.  When people are committed to something seven nights a week they have little time for meaningless campaign work.  Companies that tell you they will raise leaders by organizing teams are disingenuous.

So, while I would love to work with you we might not be a good match for you.  If however you need someone that thinks outside the box, adds value to you and gives you their all, then we are for you.  We should talk.  Give us a call.

Mark Brooks

Founder and President

The Charis Group